MarijuanaNews.com : Potent Pot Myth Undermined By Report From The Ultimate Authority. Cited By Swedish Prohibitionist Who Don’t Seem To Understand. As Usual.

Posted February 10, 2000
See

href=”http://marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/marijuana_prohibition_and_potenc.htm”>
size=”2″>Marijuana Prohibition And Potency, Price,
And Safety –
“Is Marijuana Stronger Than It Was Back In the ’60s, When Everyone Thought It Was
Harmless?”
Analysis By Richard Cowan

(MarijuanaNews note: The prohibitionists like to claim huge increases in
marijuana average potency make it much more dangerous today. That is simply not supported
by the official data.

Amusingly, I found this on the web site of the Swedish prohibitionist
propaganda organization, Hassela Nordic Network.

Obviously, they don’t understand how devastating this is to the party
line. Quite often that is the case. They are blissfully unfazed by mere facts.)

See

href=”http://marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/tremendous_increase_in_the_numbe.htm”>”Tremendous
Increase In The Number Of Dutch Cannabis Users Asking For Help”
Swedish Prohibitionists Claim

Potentcy trends of delta9-THC and other cannabinoids in confiscated marijuana

From The Journal of Forensic Science January 2000; 45(1):24-30 (ISSN:
0022-1198)
http://www.aafs.org/Journal.htm

By El Sohly, MA, National Center for The Development of Natural Products,
Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Departments of Pharmaceutics,
COLOR=”#ff0000″>University of Mississippi, University 38677, USA.
COLOR=”#008000″>

(MarijuanaNews note: Mohammed El Sohly also runs the Potency Monitoring Project
at the University of Mississippi, which is the source for all of the government’s
data on marijuana potency.

To his credit he uses 1980 as his base year, rather than the 1972 – the
project’s first year — when the small number of samples tested yielded only 0.18%
THC. It is that number that is used by some of the more disingenuous prohibitionists to
claim huge increases in potency.

Data from private testing in the 1970s – using far more samples than the
government, which is no longer possible on a large scale today – suggest that the
average potency was at least 2% THC. Even that number may be low because there is really
no way to be sure that a sample of contraband is representative. Although, trends can
probably be accurately inferred from the data over a long period of time, it should be
noted that in 1983 arithmetic average dropped back to 2.3% and weirdly the average based
on the weight of all the samples – not just the number of samples — dropped down to
0.61% in 1994! Obviously a big year for ditchweed eradication. The average by weight,
which cold be more representative of the actual market – except for the
government’s obsession with ditchweed, would thus show a 60% drop in potency! Of
course, all this really shows that one cannot take these numbers at face value.

By the way, El Sohly has a patent on a THC suppository. How can you light those
things?)

See

href=”http://marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/a_medical_marijuana_development_.htm”>
color=”#0000a0″>A Medical Marijuana Development That Bob Barr Would Be Qualified To Look
Into

The analysis of 35,312 cannabis preparations confiscated in the USA over a
period of 18 years for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) and other major
cannabinoids is reported. Samples were identified as cannabis, hashish, or hash oil.

Cannabis samples were further subdivided into marijuana (loose material,
kilobricks and buds), sinsemilla, Thai sticks and ditchweed.

The data showed that more than 82% of all confiscated samples were in the
marijuana category for every year except 1980 (61%) and 1981 (75%). The
potency (concentration of delta9-THC) of marijuana samples rose from less than 1.5% in
1980 to approximately 3.3% in 1983 and 1984, and then fluctuated around 3% till 1992.
COLOR=”#008000″>

(MarijuanaNews note: The 1980 number puzzles me. In Marijuana Myths;
Marijuana Facts, (page 136) Morgan and Zimmer cite the same source and give the same
numbers on every year except 1980, which they report the average potency as 2.06% THC.
However, it is also important to note that the sample size for 1980 was only 153, while
the 1983 sample was 1,229 seizures! Obviously, the accuracy of any sampling tends to vary
directly with the sample size, all other things being equal. However, one should keep in
mind the above noted year to year variations.)

Since 1992, the potency of confiscated marijuana samples has continuously
risen, going from 3.1% in 1992 to 4.2% in 1997.

The average concentration of delta9-THC in all cannabis samples showed a
gradual rise from 3% in 1991 to 4.47% in 1997.

(MarijuanaNews note: This number is apparently a reference to the average by
weight. Using this number only once in the abstract is misleading.

Taking these numbers at face value – without factoring in the wide
fluctuation in the potency numbers over the years – would mean that the much touted
“potent pot” myth is really took place in 3 steps. First, between 1972 and 1982
– if one accepts the very low 1972 numbers, and apparently even El Sohly does not –
there would have been an astonishing ten fold increase in ten years. That would be
inexplicable. Remember this was long before the advent of indoor cultivation.

Then there was another 50% increase from 2% to 3% in just 2 years between 1980
and 1983 – again before widespread indoor growing and breeding. This would also be
inexplicable. And then finally, there was another 50% increase in the mid 1990s from 3% to
4.47% in just five years. It was during this time that indoor growing became a more
important part of the market, but it has not had much of an impact on the average.

In reality, the most that could be claimed on the basis of these numbers is
that the average may have doubled over the last 20 years, and even that is very
questionable.

It is also irrelevant in the legalization debate for two reasons. First, it
took place under marijuana prohibition, and contraband markets encourage higher potency to
raise the value per pound. Second, more potent marijuana is not more dangerous, because
there is no lethal dose. Indeed, it is probably safer, inasmuch as it requires less
smoking. Of course, kids, who are supposedly being protected by marijuana prohibition are
not likely to be getting the high-priced indoor bud. Their biggest risk is that they will
be sold adulterated weed or just ditchweed, not that they will luck into some sinsemilla.
COLOR=”#ff0000″>

In any case, these numbers do not support the notion that
marijuana today is fundamentally different. Marijuana is marijuana.)

Hashish and hash oil, on the other hand, showed no specific potency trends.

(MarijuanaNews note: This is of relevance in Europe where much of the cannabis
market is still hashish. It is only in the last few years that the Dutch indoor marijuana
has become a significant factor. Consequently, the supposed increase in marijuana potency
is irrelevant in Europe, where the market has always been dominated by a fairly high
potency cannabis product. This means that European prohibitionists are being even more
disingenuous than their DEAland when they talk about increases in cannabis potency.)
See

color=”#0000ff”>The Prohibitionists In Stockholm Reveal The Shocking Truth
About The Potency Of Dutch Marijuana

Other major cannabinoids [cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), and
cannabichromene (CBC)] showed no significant change in their concentration over the years.

###

From a Press release dated February 7, 2000 from Hassela Nordic Network
href=”http://www.hnnsweden.com/hnn_latestnews_main.htm”>http://www.hnnsweden.com/hnn_latestnews_main.htm